As the hurricane waters recede in the Gulf States, once
again the poor people in this nation have to bear the
brunt of knee-jerk reactions made by those who are
supposed to protect them.
Capitol Hill is taking money from entitlement
programs to fulfill promises made by President Bush.
In efforts to ensure hurricane victims some economic
relief, lawmakers are proposing bigger cuts to the very
programs that will provide said relief. Food stamps,
Medicaid and other programs are earmarked for even
bigger cuts to back Bush's remarks to do "whatever
it takes" to rebuild the gulf region.
It seems it will take from the poor to feed the poor.
The Washington Post reports the House GOP leaders are
planning to raise the cuts to entitlement programs from
$35 billion to $50 billion. These cuts also include
rescinding funds already approved in an attempt to back
the blank check Bush said he would provide.
Sixteen committees in the House and Senate face an
Oct. 26 deadline to produce $35 billion in budget
savings over five years, mainly from entitlement
programs. The savings level was set this spring in a
hard-fought budget resolution that passed largely along
party lines. However, the deadline isn't really a
deadline, as House committee chairmen scramble to find
an additional $15 billion in savings.
Complicated proposals are flying like wild geese as
Congress scrambles to keep the deficit from climbing
higher. But no one is proposing the upper classes endure
any sort of spending cuts. The GOP is still grasping at
the sinking ship of trickle-down economics: if rich
people have money, they will spend it, and jobs will be
created for poor people.
This ridiculous theory failed miserably in the 1980s,
and it's drowning the nation once again.
In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.),
Democrats are urging him to again postpone consideration
of budget cuts. "In our view, hurricane and energy
price relief should be Congress's top priorities. Yet
rather than addressing the urgent needs of survivors and
families and businesses suffering from rising gas
prices, the Republican congressional leadership is
pursuing reconciliation legislation that could only
worsen their plight, with cuts in Medicaid, food
assistance and other benefits."
When the economy goes haywire, rich people don't
spread their wealth to anyone. This leaves poor people
to help save the day. But they can't give what they
don't have. Time and money have run out.
Where are the proposals to keep the estate tax as it
is and collect much-needed taxes from the upper class?
Where are the rollbacks of corporation tax cuts that
have depleted our surplus and resurrected the federal
deficit? Where are the so-called conservative
Republicans who don't spend money they don't have?
Like the dinosaur, fiscal responsibility is quickly
becoming extinct.
McKee, a wheelchair user, is an Albuquerque
writer, poet and producer. You can e-mail Barbara
at chairgrrl@chairgrrl.com.
Her column runs on Tuesdays.
